Guillermo Sierra: "We see an open niche for creating a global preschool content brand"
Guillermo Sierra, Head of Television and Digital Services at HITN, has 35 years of experience in the television industry. On PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra, he announced his two latest projects: the launch of the preschool linear channel Edye—which has existed as an SVOD platform for six years—on April 1 and its showcase.
“We see an open niche for creating a global preschool content brand. This is very evident. If you look at what’s happening, major streaming platforms barely consider the genre. They only have a few select offerings. Those who do it well pay a high price for it, but it’s not the genre’s bulk or core. This is a global issue. There is no global brand that encompasses everything, that can be the main outlet for children’s content, which it truly deserves. And that brings us back to our nonprofit nature. What drives us is, first, serving our audience and, second, fostering industry growth,” said Sierra.
On April 9 at 11am, PRODU, through produ.com and its LinkedIn and YouTube social media platforms, will broadcast the Edye Showcase.
“We want to deeply thank everyone who has supported us—regional operators, programmers, and content producers. We thought it would be nice to take a few minutes on air to share what we’ve achieved, our vision for the future, and what we believe can be accomplished. This is also an opportunity to inform smaller operators who may not yet know that Edye exists—an exceptional service for preschoolers with a truly significant educational foundation,” Sierra stated.
Sierra explained that children’s content producers face significant challenges in finding distribution. Open TV rarely programs children’s content, and cable channels have significantly reduced it, shifting everything to streamers, which don’t prioritize it.
“There is an urgent need to create a space both for the industry and for children. Kids are turning to TikTok and YouTube, where there is both great and problematic content. It’s a delicate, risky, and unsafe environment. Every time we conduct focus groups, parents express their guilt,” he commented.
He emphasized the importance of “creating a safe environment where children feel protected, parents know their kids are in a secure space, and where they can enjoy high-quality productions with the meticulous care these types of shows require. People don’t realize the difference in work and cost between a YouTube video and a high-budget production investing millions in 26 episodes. The industry deserves this space. We see a growth opportunity, which is why we launched in Brazil, where we are doing well. We are now with almost all operators. It’s a major effort since we don’t have a big brand backing us. Unlike major studios, which get immediate access, we have to explain what Edye is from scratch. But after six years, we are still here, growing,” he noted.
Sierra stated that the Edye linear channel, launching on April 1, will start with six million subscribers. “As a platform, Edye is close to reaching 10 million subscribers across all its formats—SVOD, on-demand, SVOD within bundles, and now linear. We are launching first with VTR in Chile, Claro Video in various regions, IZZY in Mexico, and Sky in Mexico and Central America. It’s gaining momentum and starts with a significant subscriber base. We have been in test broadcasting for some time, but will officially launch on April 1,” he said.
Sierra recounted Edye’s beginnings at HITN: “It was clear we had to transition to streaming and digital. Our programming team, led by Erika Vogt Lowell, analyzed Nielsen data and saw that kids were no longer watching traditional TV. Even though we had quality content—including CBeebies and Zumo—it wasn’t attracting viewership. That’s why we launched Edye. The name was suggested by Max Vaccaro, our VP of Digital, inspired by HITN’s long-standing slogan ‘Educa y Entretiene’ (Educate and Entertain). It worked well since it’s short and easy for children to say. It started as an SVOD service, allowing kids to find content easily. Developing Edye has been an enormous effort—not just in branding and content acquisition, but also in building the technology platform to support it,”he highlighted.
Sierra noted that content producers “have fully embraced Edye’s concept and given us enormous support, which has been instrumental in our success. We have top-tier content with recognizable characters that operators are actively seeking. That has been the foundation of our success, and we owe it all to our programmers, content producers, and our team led by Erika.”
Regarding original productions, Sierra mentioned they have focused on short interstitial segments featuring Edye’s characters. “Our mascot, Ray, was developed by a company in Mérida, Yucatán, called Don Porfirio, and they did an outstanding job. Later, with Jim Henson’s help, we turned Ray into a puppet. Now we have a full-sized mascot as well. We’ve used Ray to create educational content, including a series teaching basic words called *¿Cómo se dice?*, which is used in public classrooms in Mexico. Teachers integrate these videos into their lessons, making it a rewarding experience to contribute to the community through our content,” he said.
With a linear channel now in operation at HITN, Sierra pointed out they have teams in New York and Latin America. “We have talented people who have been with us for a long time. Karina Casalino, for instance, has been in Promotions and worked with me at LAPTV 30 years ago,” he noted.
He also mentioned the use of sophisticated tools for the linear launch, including a cloud-based master control. “Today, everything runs on servers, and we don’t even know exactly where they exist somewhere in the cloud. This allows for greater efficiency. There are tools for simpler programming, production, and content creation. We are keen to explore these technologies to maximize our resources,” he explained.
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